Let’s Dance (and eat spaghetti)

I munched on the celery and thought about what to have for dinner. Spaghetti.

First slice two cloves of garlic and brown in olive oil. Tilt the frying pan on its side just so, to pool the oil, and cook over a low flame. Toss in dried red peppers, fry together but remove before oil gets too spicy. Touch-and-go. Then cut thin slices of ham into strips and sauté until crisp. Last, add to al dente spaghetti, toss, sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with salad of fresh mozzarella and tomatoes.

Okay, let’s do it.

Let’s do it indeed. It doesn’t get much more clear-cut than this! For the spaghetti I followed these concise instructions and ended up with a pretty decent dinner.

I was happy to see the mozzarella and tomato salad on the side as I already have a tried and tested recipe for this which I’m delighted to write up for you below.

You will need:

1 soft ball of mozzarella

20 or so small cherry tomatoes

Fresh basil (as much as you like, no such thing as too much basil)

1 lemon

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Method:

1. Chop the mozzarella into cubes. Halve the tomatoes and deseed them. Mix mozzarella and tomatoes in a bowl and set aside.

2. Zest the entire lemon into a glass. Halve the lemon and squeeze one tbsp of juice into the glass.

3. Add two or three tbsp of balsamic vinegar to the glass (depends on your taste, with balsamic vinegar I think the more the better)

4. Add 1/2 tbsp – 1 tbsp of olive oil.

5. Chop up your basil into strips and add it to the glass.

6. Season liberally with salt and pepper and give it a good whisk.

7. Taste the dressing and add more of any the above ingredients to your taste. Then pour it over the tomatoes and mozzarella and toss.

I like to let the whole thing sit for a little while so that the tomatoes and the mozzarella really absorb the delicious dressing. I also often make this into a pasta salad by throwing in some penne. I’d advise adding in more olive oil into your dressing if you want to try this so that it better coats and clings to the pasta.